IN-SPACe picks three firms to develop indigenous small satellite bus platforms

Each selected company will receive a grant of Rs 5 crore to support the development and demonstration of a robust, modular and scalable small satellite bus.

The satellite buses developed under the SBaaS initiative will serve as a cost-effective platform to accommodate multiple hosted payloads, catering to both domestic and global market requirements, the IN-SPACe statement said.

“By enabling indigenous satellite bus platforms and integrating them with India’s emerging small satellite launch capabilities, we are laying the foundation for India to become a preferred global destination for end-to-end small satellite manufacturing, launch, and hosted payload services,” Pawan Kumar Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe, said.

As per the ‘Announcement of Opportunity’ guidelines, IN-SPACe will continue to support the selected companies through milestone-linked grant disbursement and by facilitating access to ISRO/DoS and IN-SPACe infrastructure, testing facilities, and technical expertise, as required.

In subsequent phases, IN-SPACe plans to enable hosted payload missions on these satellite bus platforms, further expanding public-private partnership-led programmes that allow the industry to scale from platform development to operational missions, the statement said.

“By providing standardised and flight-proven satellite bus platforms for hosted payload missions, IN-SPACe aims to reduce entry barriers for payload developers while strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities and reinforcing India’s position in the rapidly growing global hosted payload services market,” Rajeev Jyoti, Director of Technical Directorate, IN-SPACe, said.

A total of 15 proposals were received up to July 2025, and following a rigorous, transparent, and multi-stage evaluation process, three non-government entities were selected for the initiative, the statement said.

Azista Space, one of the three selected companies, said that it will deliver a multi-mission satellite platform designed to host multiple payloads for Indian and international customers, supporting in-orbit demonstration and commercial missions.

Azista Space launched India’s first optical imaging satellite and has developed high-reliability, indigenous satellite hardware that meets global standards, the company said.

Sunil Indurti, Director of Azista, said SbaaS will help deepen India’s space manufacturing ecosystem, strengthen indigenous capabilities, and accelerate the commercialisation of space technologies.

“SbaaS is not just about building satellites—it is a step towards building capacity, competitiveness, and long-term leadership for India in the global space economy,” Indurti said.